How a six-week interview with Mark Pope got Mikhail McLean one step closer to his dream of becoming a head coach

Mark Pope had found four of his assistant coaches, starting with Cody Fueger as the obvious holdover from BYU, then Jason Hart and Mark Fox as the first outside hires before reeling in Alvin Brooks III from Baylor. That fifth and final spot was tricky, though, the first-year coach looking for months before finding the perfect fit, pulling Lamar’s Mikhail McLean out of left field. In fact, the announcement was so random that it didn’t even come from the school — McLean simply updated his social media profile to reflect the move to Lexington, announcing himself as Pope’s new assistant to complete his debut staff. The official press release came later to confirm the move.

So how did he make his way to Kentucky?

His journey actually started a thousand miles away as a native of Nassau, the 34-year-old Bahamian making his way to the States at 14 to play basketball at Second Baptist School in Houston. A man by the name of Alvin Brooks was working with legendary coach and player John Lucas at the time, the duo training up-and-coming prospects in town, one being McLean.

Oddly enough, Brooks was coming off a two-year stint as the director of basketball operations at Kentucky, waiting for his next coaching move. When he got it, McLean was among his first calls, offering him a scholarship to play for his ‘hometown’ Cougars under then-coach James Dickey.

“Coach Brooks recruited me to Houston. He had just gotten done — this is so crazy, how the whole circle worked out — at Kentucky,” McLean told KSR. “… He came to watch us play open gym to see those younger guys. He saw me, he’s like, ‘Wait a minute, who is that? Why haven’t I seen him yet?’ Three weeks later, he got the assistant coaching job at the University of Houston. He was like, ‘Hey, I know you’re visiting all these places, but I would love to have you here.’

McLean knew the Cougars’ rich basketball tradition, drawn by the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of the likes of Hakeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler and Elvin Hayes. And coming from The Bahamas, the idea of staying in Houston — his new home away from home — was a dream.

“It was a no-brainer,” he said.

The 6-8 forward would play five years for the Coogs, becoming a team captain and making the Dean’s List his entire career while also being named to the AAC All-Academic Team and winning the Conference USA Winter Spirit of Service Award for community service. Brooks was right there by his side for all of it, even as the program transferred leadership from Dickey to Kelvin Sampson — a future Hall of Famer. They stuck around together for another six years at Houston, Brooks as an assistant and McLean a graduate assistant before earning an assistant director of player development role. That run included three NCAA Tournament trips, two AAC regular season titles, one AAC Tournament championship and a Final Four in 2021.

They’d be defeated by eventual NCAA champion Baylor in the national semifinal. The Bears’ associate head coach? None other than Alvin Brooks III, whose old man would become the next head coach at Lamar that offseason, bringing McLean with him as his first assistant hire.

“I mean, I’ve literally been with that man from 2010 to 2023,” McLean told KSR. “He’s a big part of everything I’ve been able to do as a player and a coach, for sure.”

Fast forward three years and McLean’s phone rang again, this time from Brooks III. Mark Pope was searching high and low for a fifth assistant and his new associate HC was using his connections to find potential candidates.

Insert McLean, right? That’s actually not how things unfolded, interestingly enough — not yet, anyway. In fact, as close as the former Cougar was with Brooks, his relationship with Brooks III was pretty surface-level at that point.

Their only history together beyond playing for and coaching alongside his dad was Brooks III trying to recruit McLean out of high school as an assistant at Bradley. As you can probably imagine, that did not go well.

“I hit him with a smooth, ‘Come on, bro. I’m not going to Bradley. Like, I appreciate you reaching out, but…,'” McLean joked. “He was relentless.”

When Brooks III reached out looking for candidates, McLean sent over a couple of names before wondering why he wouldn’t be qualified for the job, even coming from Lamar? When the UK associate HC shared what Pope was looking for, he felt he checked every box and wanted to give it a real shot.

“I reflected on it and I said, ‘Also, I would actually be interested in this job if it’s available. Do you think it fits?’ And (Brooks III) walked me through the pros and the cons of it,” he told KSR. “I said, ‘Bro, listen, it’s the University of Kentucky. Hell yeah, man. Just put my name in the hat.'”

If McLean wanted it, he’d have to earn it, because Pope wasn’t just going to reach in that hat and pick a name. This wasn’t about running through the resumes and finding the most attractive option, it was a full-on courtship.

Not days or even a couple weeks, but well over a month — and pushing two.

“The interview process actually — I mean, it was very interesting. I had no connection with Mark Pope, nobody on the staff outside of AB, kind of. So I interviewed with Coach Pope, a true interview, for six weeks. It was a six-week process.”

It started with a few phone calls, followed by an in-person meeting at a recruiting event where the two talked for an hour or so — “We did, I guess, my informal interview.” That led to a full family FaceTime with Mark and Lee Anne Pope getting to know McLean and his wife, Arrion.

At that point, the Lamar assistant just assumed Pope was looking for every reason not to add him as his fifth and final assistant coach. He was ready to move on and continue life with the Cardinals in the WAC.

“I literally pulled myself out by week four or five. I was like, ‘I’m not getting this job. I’m not getting it.’

Then the call came, McLean in the middle of a hands-on workout with his players — his specialty — drenched in sweat. Caller ID: Mark Pope.

“I’m like, ‘Hey guys, I gotta take this.’ I step outside of the gym, I’m sweaty. He said, ‘Yo, are you ready to be a Wildcat?’ I said, ‘Huh? I haven’t talked to you in two weeks?’ Of course, my answer was yes. He said, ‘Hey, talk to your wife. Don’t accept it yet.’ I called my wife, and her answer was yes. I mean, the rest is history.”

It didn’t take long for McLean to start making a name for himself in Lexington, Pope singling him out for his work beyond scouting and recruiting — the generic asks in the job description. It’s the former DI athlete’s passion for on-court development, particularly with the bigs, stressing the value in showing, not just telling. Prior to every game in his first season with the Wildcats, he would be out on the floor with Amari Williams, Brandon Garrison, Andrew Carr and Ansley Almonor rocking a full sweatsuit and sneakers, down in a defensive stance and throwing a body at them as they worked on post moves and rebounding.

It was no different behind the scenes in practice.

“Mikhail is going to be a star in this business. He’s going to be a star. You talk about high ceilings, he’s got a high ceiling. He’s meant so much to us,” Pope said back in February. “… He is a star in the making. He’s going to be a head coach sooner than any of us would have imagined and he’s going to crush it.”

He’s already on his way at the international level, serving as the associate head coach of the Bahamas National Team, a group featuring Deandre Ayton, Buddy Hield, Eric Gordon and V.J. Edgecombe that was one win away from qualifying for the 2024 Paris Olympics last summer. That was a non-negotiable when he made the move from Houston to Lamar in 2021, telling Brooks, “If I take this job, I really need this opportunity to coach with the Bahamas National Team.”

They nearly made history the first time around, the Bahamas never competing in the Olympics — a 62-year drought for the nation, despite seven FIBA CBC Championships and one FIBA AmeriCup appearance. Next time, the plan is to finish the job.

“We’re right there,” McLean told KSR. “This time, in the 2028 Olympics, I’ll tell you: we will make the Olympics. We’re proudly going to make it and we want to win games in the Olympics.”

The question is, will the second-year UK assistant still be in Lexington when that day comes? He’s not shying away from dreaming big when it comes to his own coaching career, embracing Pope’s desire to see him leading his own program as a head coach.

It’s ambitious, but he didn’t get to this point in life as a player or coach being lazy. What’s the point in doing any of this if he doesn’t have goals set for himself? And he’s got numbers attached to those goals.

One of those numbers is No. 9 at Kentucky.

“My number one priority and only number one priority right now is bringing number nine (to Lexington),” he said. “That’s what I would love to do. When we win, everybody wins. Our players win, our coaching staff wins.”

From there, God willing, he’s ready to make the jump. That’s how he sees the next several years unfolding, overlapping with a run in the Olympics.

Whether it sounds crazy or attainable, McLean is going for it, because that’s how he’s always lived. Everything he’s earned in life, he’s worked and prayed for, and these next steps will be no different.

“I think with us having an opportunity to do that this year and every year, I think that will help me — I mean, I want to be a head coach,” he told KSR. “I’m not being shy about that, I’d like to be a head coach within the next two to three years, if things go as planned. I’d like for us to qualify for the Olympics with the Bahamas (National) Team.

“I try to be very bold in my faith and my visions and all of that stuff, so obviously wherever God leads me, I’m patient. But I for sure would love to be a head coach, regardless of the level, at the Division I level.”

Those around him at Kentucky are supporting that vision, appreciating the time they have together in Lexington until then.

“I’m blessed to be around a great staff that mentors me every day and players that allow me to grow, as well,” McLean said. “That’s the vision, for sure.”